Advertisements for products and services has been used effectively in the print media over many years and with the advent of the worldwide web, businesses and individuals have a worldwide forum to advertise any of their products and services. However, using the web has added additional problems for buyer and seller users. For example, it is a common problem for users to waste valuable hours fumbling their way through various confusing web pages with distracting graphics while trying to locate specific advertised products and services. Often people have enlisted the use of complicated search engines that query other databases to aid in their searches. As sellers, the users endure classified advertising web sites that require excessive typing during the ad placements. As buyers, the users have great difficulty both accessing the site and finding the desired goods and services. The result is that clumsy forms and the lack of logical page progression stifle web users from reaching their end results.
Current web site designers are still receiving and presenting data as if they are publishing a standard classified magazine. When dealing with this data from a customers point of view, it involves a complicated non intuitive method of search for data retrieval and placement.
Various businesses are known to list advertisements for goods and services. For example, Traderonline.com, Yahoo!—Classifieds, Websbestclassified.com, #1 Classified—Boconline.com, Aircraft Shopper Online (ASO)—aso.solid.com. Trade-A-Plane—tradeaplane.com, Autoweb.com, AAAClassifieds.com, TheAdNet.com, ep.com and cars.com, are some of the more well known web businesses. However, as described below, these web sites have many problems.
Traderonline.com takes a long time to download because of their use of graphics. During a car search, when you click on makes, it gives you a list of makes, then models to choose from. After you've selected a make and model, it lists all makes of cars, not just the one you originally selected. When placing an ad, one must go through many pages of forms. Yahoo!—Classifieds mixes different types of vehicles together. Planes are mixed in with boats, and motorcycles are mixed with cars, and the site is complicated when used by sellers to submit an ad.
Websbestclassified.com is a messy and confusing site that is no better than those previously described. The site called #1 Classified-Boconline.com lists ads by state and doesn't have a column for prices. Products are mixed together. For example, boats are not broken down into various types and are mixed together. Aircraft Shopper Online (ASO)—aso.solid.com is a complicated and confusing site with crowded homepage, and uses a map of the United States and the rest of the world to locate positions and is not easy to navigate.
Trade-A-Plane—tradeaplane.com charges to view the adds and uses small hard to read print, and lists a large crowded selection list on their homepage, and requires multiple click throughs to access information. Autoweb.com requires the user to repeatedly enter information on various web pages, and uses hard to read small print. AAA Classifieds—AAAClassifieds.com requires searching by alphabetical identifiers and requires the user to read through wordy explanations.
TheAdNet.com requires users to fill out search forms to view ads, and requires input of pricing information. Ep.com does not break down categories to be specific enough and is hard to view the small print. Cars.com requires the user to enter multiple data items, requires several clicks on each web page, and is also hard to read because of the use of small print. This site does not subcategorize the main categories.
Various types of patents have been proposed over the years. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,940 to Dworkin; U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,731 to Lalonde et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,434 to Kremen et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,521 to Dedrick; U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,882 to Bixler et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,873 to Berent et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,639 to Greef et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,670 to Trader et al. However, none of these patents resolves the problems identified above.